Dr Jonathan Copley BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD

Associate Professor in Ocean Exploration & Public Engagement

Dr Jonathan Copley is Associate Professor in Ocean Exploration & Public Engagement (part-time) within Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton at the University of Southampton.

No human eye had glimpsed this part of the planet before us, this pitch-black country lighted only by the pale gleam of an occasional spiralling shrimp (Otis Barton, The World Beneath The Sea, 1953)

My research explores colonies of animals on the ocean floor, to understand patterns of life in the deep sea that covers most of our world. By studying marine life in "island-like" habitats such as hydrothermal vents, my work examines interactions between ecology ("who does what"), biogeography ("who lives where"), and evolution ("who is related to whom") in the ocean depths.

I have more than twenty years of experience in exploring the deep ocean, including leading expeditions aboard research ships, using Human-Occupied Vehicles (HOVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), and discovering new species of deep-sea animals.

As our everyday lives are connected to the deep ocean in ways we seldom realise, I work with documentary makers to share the exploration of the deep ocean with people worldwide, and routinely interact with news media to raise awareness of deep-sea issues and my team's discoveries.

I frequently talk about about exploring the deep ocean to public audiences ranging from local school and community groups to major events and festivals, and have created online resources for people to join in our voyages. This overall programme of public engagement with ocean exploration resulted in a successful "Impact Case Study" for REF2014.

As a "popular science" writer, I have also published more than 150 articles in magazines and newspapers such as The Guardian,Nature, and New Scientist (where I was a Reporter and Assistant News Editor).

Positions held

Since 2014: Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum2011-2012: National Geographic Explorer (recipient of Expeditions Fund Grant)2010-2012: Co-Chair of InterRidge initiative for international cooperation in mid-ocean ridge research2007-2013: Lecturer in Marine Ecology, University of Southampton2005-2007: Senior Teaching Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Southampton2000-2004: Science Coordinator, NERC Autosub Under Ice research programme2000-2005: Teaching Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Southampton1998-1999: Intern, then Reporter, then Assistant News Editor, New Scientist magazine

Education

PhD in Oceanography, University of Southampton, 1998 MSc in Oceanography, University of Southampton, 1994 First Class BSc(Hons) in Zoology, University of Sheffield, 1992

Why do we find particular species of animals at hydrothermal vents in some areas but not elsewhere? Why are some types of animals more widespread than others in habitats such as hydrothermal vents or cold seeps around the world? These are the big questions, and answering them should give us a better understanding of how species disperse and evolve in deep-sea habitats. Answering them also involves describing new species from the areas that we are exploring, and analysing their genetic code to determine how they are related to other species elsewhere.

Here are some of the new species that my team has described from expeditions:

Within a hydrothermal vent field, cold seep, or whale-fall, my goal is to understand what lives where and why. For example, why are some species abundant on vent chimneys, while other species only thrive at the edge of a vent field?

Unfortunately we can't stroll around the ocean floor as easily as ecologists do on rocky shores to investigate their patterns of life, so we are developing new techniques to study the microdistribution of animals in these environments, using high-definition cameras and the precision-control capabilities of the latest generation of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

How do animals "hop" from vent to vent, or seep to seep, or whale skeleton to whale skeleton, in the deep ocean? The species we find in these island-like habitats on the ocean floor seem to have a variety of life cycles, types of larval development, and reproductive patterns. But are some features of their life-history biology "preadaptations" for success in these environments? And what are the consequences of differences in life-history biology for dispersal, gene flow, and ultimately biogeography?

My work in this area involves characterising the life-cycles of animals from hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale-falls, and wood-falls, in conjunction with studies of the genetics of their populations by colleagues around the world.

Our everyday lives are more connected to the deep ocean than we realise, from using its resources to producing waste that ends up there, and public engagement therefore needs to be at the heart of ocean exploration for us to choose the future of our blue planet.

I work with traditional media to share the exploration of the oceans with millions worldwide (e.g. helping BBC Blue Planet 2 bring life in the oceans to an expected global audience of 200 million people), present "face-to-face" talks and events about deep-sea research (total audiences of >16,000 people so far), and create online resources for people to share in our discoveries (e.g. deep-sea expeditions website visited by >300,000 people from 90+ countries).

I also write "popular science" articles primarily about marine science, some ocean technology, and "other stuff" (e.g. zoology, environmental microbiology, Earth science), and I have enjoyed advising TV and audio drama productions featuring deep-sea science, as another opportunity to engage people with the ocean depths.